d
they celebrated their triumph with bonfires and illuminations.

{1710}

On the fifth day of April, the queen ordered the parliament to be
prorogued, after having, in her speech to both houses, expressed her
concern for the necessary occasion which had taken up great part of
their time towards the latter end of the session. She declared that no
prince could have a more true and tender concern for the welfare and
prosperity of the church than she had, and should always have; and she
said it was very injurious to take a pretence from wicked and
malicious libels, to insinuate that the church was in danger by her
administration.

CONFERENCES AT GERTRUYDENBURGH.

The French king, seeing the misery of his people daily increase, and all
his resources fail, humbled himself again before the allies, and by the
means of Petkum, who still corresponded with his ministers, implored
the states-general that the negotiation might be resumed. In order to
facilitate their consent, he despatched a new project of pacification,
in which he promised to renounce his grandson, and to comply with all
their other demands, provided the electors of Cologn and Bavaria should
be re-established in their estates and dignities. These overtures
being rejected, another plan was offered, and communicated to the
plenipotentiaries of the emperor and queen of Great Britain. Then Petkum
wrote a letter to the marquis de Torcy, intimating, that the allies
required his most christian majesty should declare, in plain and
expressive terms, that he consented to all the preliminaries, except the
thirty-seventh article, which stipulated a cessation of arms, in case
the Spanish monarchy should be delivered to king Charles in the space
of two months. He said the allies would send passports to the French
ministers, to treat of an equivalent for that article. Louis was even
forced to swallow this bitter draught. He signified his consent,
and appointed the mareschal D'Uxelles and the abbe Polignac his
plenipotentiaries. They were not suffered, however, to enter Holland,
but were met by the deputies Buys and Vanderdussen, at Gertruydenburgh.
Meanwhile, the states desired the queen of England to send over the duke
of Marlborough to assist them with his advice in these conferences. The
two houses of parliament seconded their request in a joint address to
her majesty, who told them she had already given directions for his
departure; and said she was glad to find th